Martinmas

An important part of the Waldorf lifestyle and education is the celebration of festivals throughout the year. Since our family doesn't follow any specific religion, I appreciate how many of the holidays are presented from a historical, spiritual, and community-based perspective. They are also grounded in the seasons of nature, which we try to focus on with Millie Bea.

November 11th is Martinmas, or Saint Martin's Day, when schools and communities gather after dark for a lantern walk. I had never heard of it until I started learning about Waldorf, but there is a lot to like about this festival. The very short version of the history is that Martin was a Roman soldier who showed generosity and kindness to a beggar on a very cold night in November. While other people passed by the beggar, Martin stopped and cut his own cloak in two with his sword to clothe the man. That night, Martin had a dream that the beggar was Christ, and so his good deed had been in service to all mankind. The lanterns represent our inner light, and what we have to share with others. It is the beginning of the season of giving, and also reminds us to cherish the light as the darkness of winter sets in.

So, you may be wondering what all this means to a toddler. I kept it very simple with a craft and a poem, and the knowledge in my heart that we are laying the foundation for her bright and beautiful future in this lifestyle we have chosen. 

To make our lantern we glued tissue paper to a glass jar. Millie loved spreading the glue on top of the paper to create layers. I cut out stars from construction paper and we put them between the layers. She chose the colors and I think it came out very pretty. After nap, when it was dry, we twisted wire around the top and over to make a handle, then added a beeswax candle.

(Peeling glue off fingers... A childhood rite of passage)

After the sun went down we crept back downstairs in our pajamas to light it again, and left it on the porch for Daddy to find. Millie could hardly contain her excitement! She kept looking out the window saying "It's getting dark... Almost time. Almost winter coming." Needless to say, Daddy was very happy to find our warm glowing light to guide him home!

The sunlight now is dwindling,

My little lamp needs kindling,

It's beams shine far in darkest night,

Dear lantern, guide me with your light.

Happy Martinmas!

Into the woods

Today we went on the most wonderful family walk through the woods. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and we barely saw another person. We were out for about two hours and Sneaky Pete was off his leash the whole time in the woods. Millie has a bad cold and congested cough, so she wanted to be carried a lot more than usual, but she also walked and ran a lot. Sweet little lamb, looking for deer and collecting acorn caps to use as "cookies" for her baby dolls.

We took about 18 photos of interesting things, and I made them into an 11x14 collage poster on Snapfish. It should come in the mail next week and I'll hang it in Millie's new work space (which is just a table and empty shelf right now).

We also had an eventful bird watching day at our backyard feeders- 4 big blue jays, 2 tufted titmice, a baby(!) woodpecker, a male cardinal, and what I think was some type of vireo (gray, green, and yellow). And of course sparrows and squirrels...

Here are a few of the photos from the woods:

We also rearranged her bedroom today and it looks SO much better. There are a couple of pictures of it on the side bar from our Instagram, and we'll take one of the new bed area once we get the canopy hung up next weekend.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Halloween practice

Here is Millie modeling the pieces of her outfit before we made them into an alligator:

I thought she would like to help make it, so I tried to work on it while she was awake. Big mistake. There was much angry baby protesting, felt pieces all over the floor (picking up dog hair no less), and a certain Mama having a nervous breakdown/ temper tantrum. Millie and Sunshine Bear ended up in their room for a few minutes while the blue alligator and I regrouped. Luckily we both agreed to forgive each other, and Millie enjoyed a special treat of watching a Halloween show on the computer while I finished the alligator's head. But you won't get to see until tomorrow night!

After tubby time we practiced Trick-or-Treating. It started off a little shaky, but ended very well.

Round 1

(Millie knocks on the "door")

Mama: Well hello, little girl! What is your costume?

Millie: A pig.

Mama: Oh my. Ok. Would you like some candy? What do you say...?

Millie: Halloween! Soap! Pumpkin!

(Much coaching ensues)

Round 2

(Millie knocks on the "door")

Mama: Hello little girl! Don't you look nice. What is your costume?

Millie: A new, blue, green, white, pink, sofa, alligator!!

Mama: How lovely! Would you like some candy?

Millie: No thank you.

(Hmmm)

Round 12. Or maybe closer to 15-ish.

(Millie knocks on the "door")

Mama: Hello, who's there?

Millie: A new blue alligator!

Mama: I have some candy here, what do you say...?

Millie: Trick-or-treat!

Yay!!

We were in hysterics by the end. I was pretending to be shocked when she "ate" the imaginary candy instead of putting it in her imaginary bag. She loved that. I also taught her how to say "I need another piece for my Mama".

When Brady came home he took over being the person in the house. After she went to bed we worked on the costume together. Tomorrow afternoon we have a neighborhood party to go to, which will be adorable. Stay tuned!

A Snippet of Toddlerhood

You know how they say that when a toddler is being quiet you should check on them? You know, because usually they're up to some no good mischief like coloring on the walls or emptying shampoo bottles onto the floor? Well, Millie Bea did not get that toddler memo. Usually when she's in another room being quiet it's because she's concentrating on something- like tying a knot or wrapping a doll in a blanket or filling a bag to take to M&M beach. Now that she's talking, her non-mischief is getting out-of-control adorable.

Today we had the kids here for Toddlergarten and we baked pumpkin cinnamon buns. Here is Millie putting maple syrup and cinnamon on her dough:

After this she must have needed some alone time, because she went upstairs to use the potty in her bedroom and didn't come back down for a while. When she reappeared I asked her what she had been doing upstairs. Her answer? "Folding clothes. Listening to music (on the radio)." Sure enough when I went up later she had taken her clothes out of the clean laundry pile on our bed and laid them out on top of one another in a neat stack. The radio clock was moved, but naturally she had turned it off when she was done.

~ filling the bird feeder ~

~ adding leaves to the compost ~

Another "better check on the quiet toddler" moment from today was when I was getting dinner ready after the other kids left. I found her changing Duckie's diaper. 

Then she set up a picnic for herself and Duckie, feeding him while he sat in her lap. 

I believe it was tomato/potato/M&M soup.

September Apple picking 2014

Two new posts today! I just saw that a post from a few weeks ago didn't get published, but it should be up now if you scroll down :)
We went apple picking a couple of weeks ago. Teta Annie came down to join us! I'll do a separate post with those pictures. Here are some from Fishkill Farms where we picked apples, corn, peppers, kale, and flowers. (And in case anyone is wondering, Millie's french braid was done by Mama, but her extreme banana curls are au natural!)

From today

((Oops! Looks like this post from my phone didn't get published. Well here it is now!))

Notes from my phone, 9/8/14

Sweetheart things my baby said and did today:

While Millie was looking through the mail, she found a picture of a little girl with her mama, and was pointing out that I am her mama. I said "do you know that being your mama is the happiest thing in the world?" and she said " oh, thank you mama" and gave me a big hug.

While I was cooking dinner, Millie was going back and forth between helping me and playing in the other room. She found a new package of chalk and took that out and was drawing on her big paper- even using the cardboard from the box to color on it and make prints (all her own idea). Then she came into the kitchen, pulled the stool up to the sink to wash her hands, and then washed all the dishes in the sink for me! She would hold up each piece after she washed it and say "here you go mama!"

We had cornbread and chili for dinner using Nana's recipe from her mom. Millie was skeptical at first because it didn't look so pretty, but I told her it was from Nana and that Nana says it's called "Millie's chili"- she thought that was great! I told her if she at least tried it that she could call Nana later and tell her about it, and she ended up loving it and ate the whole thing. While she was eating I said "do you remember what the name of this is?" She smiled and said "Minnow Beatrix yum yum yum".

At dinner I hurt my tooth while I was eating and I put my hand on my cheek and said "ow!". Millie said "oh no no no...", climbed down off her high chair, climbed up into my lap, and told me to open my mouth. She pretended to grab something off my tooth and said "hurrah!" and then pretended to throw it on the ground. Then of course she asked me to pull her food over so she could finish eating while sitting in my lap.

~making rosemary-Parmesan crackers for our first day of toddlergarten (at home) tomorrow~

August Peach Picking 2014